Every year or so, additional questions and claims appear on the Internet regarding the so-called ‘Scorched Earth Order’ signed by Josef Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov, on behalf of the Headquarters (Stavka / Ставка) of the Supreme High Command. Would-be historians take the contents of the basic document and add their own ingredients, either made up on the spot or reported from a faulty memory.
The order, marked ‘Secret,’ was written and issued in November 1941 in response to early advances made by the Red Army and the fact that the Nazis were struggling with staying alive (much less staying warm) with the onset of the brutal Russian winter. Stalin’s instructions to his men included the order to burn to the ground any and all populated areas behind the Wehrmacht’s lines where German soldiers and officers could be expected to have settled in against the cold. While there is reference to the need to evacuate the Soviet populations, reading between the lines suggests that the priority it to destroy the villages; there would be no time to find shelter for the Soviet evacuees. Further, this was not to be an exercise in finding this or that building to take down, but to sweep through and destroy every village or settlement in a 40-60 km swath along a 40-60 km route.
Over the years, as if the order itself was not dastardly enough, a variety of embellishments have been added, courtesy of the camouflage of the Internet. Some examples of the falsehoods that have been added:
- Soviet troops were to be dressed in German soldier’s uniforms and uniforms of the Waffen-SS looted from the German army to ignite hatred toward all of the occupying forces and make the conscription of partisans from the outlying areas of fascist territories easier;
- at least a handful of survivors were to be allowed who would speak of the “German atrocities”;
- rumors were to be spread that the Nazis were burning the villages to punish standing guerilla units.
We are happy to provide a new translation of the order, along with photocopies of the original, to show that it needs no additional weight thrown onto the actual cruelty Stalin and Shaposhnikov cooked up.
SECRET
TO THE MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE SOUTHWEST FRONT.
ORDER of the HEADQUARTERS OF THE SUPREME HIGH COMMAND No. 0428
17 November 1941 Moscow
(Deliver this order to the Military Councils of the Armies)
The experience of the last month of the war has shown that the German army is poorly adapted to warfare in winter conditions, lacks warm clothing, and, experiencing enormous difficulties from the onset of frost, is hunkered down in settlements in the front-line zone. The enemy, arrogant to the point of insolence, intended to winter in the warm houses of Moscow and Leningrad, but this was prevented by the actions of our troops.
On vast sections of the front, German troops, encountering stubborn resistance from our units, were forced to go on the defensive and took up residence in settlements along the roads for 20-30 km on both sides.
German soldiers usually live in towns, villages, peasant huts, barns, threshing floors, and bathhouses near the front, while the headquarters of German units are located in larger populated areas and cities, hiding in basements, using them as shelters from our aviation and artillery.
The Soviet population of these settlements is usually evicted and discarded by the German invaders.
Deprive the German army of the opportunity to quarter themselves in villages and towns, drive the German invaders out of all settlements into the cold open fields, smoke them out of all buildings and warm shelters and force them to freeze in the open air – this is the imperative, the execution of which largely depends on accelerating the defeat of the enemy and the disintegration of its army.
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command hereby ORDERS:
1. Destroy and burn to the ground all settlements in the rear of the German troops at a distance of 40-60 km from the front line and 20-30 km to the right and left of the roads.
Destroy settlements within the specified radius, immediately deploy aircraft, make extensive use of artillery and mortar fire, and send in reconnaissance teams, skiers, and partisan sabotage teams equipped with petrol bombs, grenades, and explosives.
2. In each regiment, create hunting parties, each consisting of 20-30 men, to blow up and burn the down settlements where enemy troops are located. Select the bravest and most politically and morally reliable soldiers, commanders, and political officers for these hunting parties, carefully explaining to them the tasks and significance of this measure for defeating the German army. Outstandingly courageous individuals who distinguish themselves through daring actions in destroying settlements where German troops are located should be nominated for government awards.
3. In the event of a forced retreat of our units in any given sector, the Soviet population must be evacuated, and all settlements without exception must be destroyed so that the enemy cannot use them.
For this purpose, the hunting parties assigned to the regiments should be used first and foremost.
4. The Military Councils of the fronts and individual armies are to systematically verify how the tasks of destroying settlements within the specified radius from the front line are carried out. The General Headquarters is to be informed every 3 days in a separate report on how many and which settlements have been destroyed in the preceding days and by what means these results have been achieved.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE SUPREME HIGH COMMAND: J. STALIN, B. SHAPOSHNIKOV
TsAMO, f. 208, op. 2524, d. 1, l. 257-258
Translation © 2026 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
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